Breaking Rules
by CarmaKades
Summary: Ox is gone, leaving harvar alone; but not for long. A new girl arrives at Shibusen to teach him how to fight on his own. Harvar however refuses to co-operate creating large problems. Implied HarvarxOx and HarvarxOC
1. Chapter 1

A young man stood in his shared apartment alone. The rising sun shone in through the east windows and he stepped out of his morning shower. He brought himself to the bathroom sink and splashed water on his face, the thrown water landing more into his jaw-length dark hair than onto his face. He brought a towel to his soaked hair trying to wring it out before he brought it back into its usual tight ponytail, and after sponging away at the water on his face he found himself unable to look in the mirror in front of him. He clenched his fists, towel still in hand. A draft blew in from the open bathroom window, his body chilled and sent goose bumps up his spine causing his hair to stand on end. He gritted his teeth at the sensation and let go of the towel, dropping it to the floor while feeling being unable to look into the mirror. Still he refused to move from his place in front of it and the shallow basin that was the sink.

He looked to the shower and blindly reached at the mirror, took hold of the edge and pulled it forward to unveil the cabinet behind filled with numerous items used for personal hygiene, various bottles of vitamins and hair gel lined the little shelves neatly. The boy grabbed at the generic brand tube of toothpaste and he reluctantly moved his hand to close the mirror cabinet and turned around to face the opposite direction as he'd done so.

With no clear idea why he avoided looking into the mirror on this particular morning, he harbored a deep gut feeling that maybe this morning he wouldn't like what he saw when peering back onto his own reflection.

Spitting into the sink the toothpaste from his mouth the moment before, he accidentally caught a glimpse of himself when he moved to turn back around. Taking the chance to see what was so grotesque about his face he straightened up to get a better look. Glaring icy blue eyes were all he noticed at first, but after focusing properly in on the image before him he found no scratches or scars from the days before. What he did find was the hateful and remorseful face of someone who let his best friend get taken away. He looked away again, seemingly aware of the face he'd seen beforehand.

He pulled his hair back and left the bathroom to get dressed in his room. Little splashes onto the linoleum and hard wooded floors followed him back to his room. He failed to dry himself off properly before he left the bathroom but at the moment it really didn't matter to him, getting the day over with was all he cared about.

The bedroom door slammed behind him as he scrambled to the closet throwing on clothes as he'd done so and by the time he was fully dressed he stood at the apartments' front entrance, pushing his sunglasses up he opened the door and stepped into the heat of the desert morning light.

'Class is going to suck today,' was his only thought after locking the door behind him. The raven haired young man turned to face the school and headquarters of the world's best kishin hunters that stood atop the mountain that was Death City. He eyed the school and felt another unfamiliar feeling... something was going to happen today.

A week had passed since well- Harvar was still attempting to get over the event that occurred the previous week, but the whispers and sneers of passing students in the hall made it no easier for him to forget. There was also the constant barrage of don't-worries or we'll-get-him-back's from his teammates and some other classmates. None of the consolations helped at all. At least knowing that they meant well was the only thing keeping him from lashing back or having an outbreak of rage, but yet continuing to hope they'd shut the hell up already.

That day however was different much to his liking. Rather than a mass of student's talking behind his back about how he lost his partner, the gossip had switched to a much brighter topic, the arrival of a new student and a new substitute teacher who would fill in for Stein, Marie, and Sid while they were on a mission. Rumors said that the teacher was a weapon, and so was the new student, but no real reliable information was passed on about the identities of the newcomers but that they worked away from headquarters for the most part, and that was why no one had ever seen them before. The academy was all hustle and bustle looking forward to seeing the new faces.

Boredom and relief caused Harvar to rest his head down on his desk, something he normally didn't do, but the weeks stress and sleeplessness were enough to excuse him from the unlikely behavior. The chattering and nervousness of Class Crescent Moon allowed him to go unnoticed anyways

However his relief could only last for so long before Maka patted him on the back. "Hey Harvar! Isn't this cool? I hear these new guys are pretty strong and I bet the new student will sit right next to you too!"

Harvar raised his head, looked over to empty seat next to him, then back to Maka who was seated behind him in on the upper row. The look he gave her wiped the silly grin right off her face, realizing it was an awfully insensitive thing of her to say. The girl who was usually so understanding of everybody's feelings felt suddenly ashamed.

She flailed her arms nervously at him attempting to smile again, "Uh, it's not like its permanent though I bet!" Her voice quaked as the words spilled out of her mouth uncontrollably. "Just until we can make room for that person! Ox will get his seat back!"

Being the man of not many words he was, he silently accepted Maka's lame excuse without caring and hoped to forget. He laid his head back down on the desk without a word of complaint to her.

He lost track of time, but before long the bell rang signifying the start of class and the room fell silent. Unlike his classmates, he wasn't dying of anticipation so he felt inclined to keep his head down and not care for the arrivals he heard stepping in through the door when the ringing of bells had stopped.

"Good morning Senior Class Crescent Moon." came a deep voice coming from the center of the room. Harvar still didn't bother to look up, but could identify the voice was that of a man in his early twenties despite how low it was.. "I am your temporary teacher until Professor Stein returns. Your other normal substitute teachers are with him as well, which would explain my presence quite obviously." He paused. "You may call me Mao, and other details about me are currently insignificant so please no questions unless they have to do with our lesson for today. Also a new student shall join this class. You may now come in."

Mao's voice was followed by the squealing hinges of the opening and closing door, then soft footsteps leading to the direction of Mao's voice. Harvar assumed it was a girl and that she was probably standing right next to the teacher.

"This is Mikayla Kyle class, I hope you will welcome us." There was another pause out of Mao's voice along with what sounded like paper being flipped over a clipboard. "Ahhh-mm," he breathed with a tone being somewhat unsure. "I guess you may sit next to Harvar, I believe? Ox is the missing student… so that seat should be open?" Harvar assumed the young teacher was looking at a seating chart and notes left by Stein. "That seat?" He was probably pointing next to him.

The light footsteps he heard before climbed the two steps up to his row, drew close to him, passed him. The boy wondered whether she was timid or just graceful by listening to her steps. Finally the sound of squealing chair legs on the floor and the creaking of the chair next to him told him the owner of the light feet was, indeed sitting in his meister's place.

"Alright then let us begin with today's scheduled lesson. The Professor left notes saying your class should be on the way to dissecting a sheep's eye."

The class groaned in unison. The fact they had another boring dissection to do rather than a cooler lesson involving new resonating techniques, pained them to a certain degree. Sometime Professor Stein was "just too much."

Time however passed quickly, and before the boy sitting with his head down knew it, the bell rang. KIL KONG KANG KONG! KIL KONG KANG KONG! Class ended. At last he raised his head and pushed his seat back to stand and leave. Students scuffled out of the room hurriedly laughing to each other while some still looked back at the new girl who was already at the front of room conversing quietly with Mao.

Mao, he noticed, was a tall and slender man , and Mikayla being a girl of maybe the same age as himself. Mao dressed in a traditional Chinese outfit, stood with poise and a smile played across his sharp features; he was an elegant and fair man despite his dark hair and eyes. Mikayla on the other hand was a girl about the same age as Maka, she too was tall, for a girl-maybe a bit shorter than himself- and had a similar slender frame to Mao's. However, unlike her elder she seemed a bit more chaotic in appearance. Despite her soft and thin facial features, she was much more unkempt. Her boyishly short white hair lay tousled about her head, and stuck up in directions he didn't know was possible.

"Spartoi team!," the young teacher chimed in. "Please wait!"

Members of the team stopped what they were doing and gazed at the pair in the front of the room with curiosity. Black Star and Tsubaki who were on their way out stopped at the door and turned around, Kim and Jacqueline stopped laughing, Maka stopped packing her belongings; and Kilik, Fire and Thunder stopped quarreling for the moment.

"We're to have a meeting in the Death Room. I'll give you five minutes to take a break and get there."

Everyone seemingly blinked at the man all at once, then carried on with whatever they were doing before all emptying the classroom.

Harvar made sure to be out before the rest of the team. It was probable that the meeting was to be about Kidd again, so he didn't feel the need to attend, nor did he want to. Maka intercepted him just as he was about to reach out to an exit door .

"Hey Harvar!" She flung herself in front of the door and blocked the exit with arms stretched out. "I'm not letting you leave. I know you're upset about Ox but you're letting this get to you too much!" Her stern expression backed him away from the door. "This isn't like you to be breaking rules and disregarding direct orders."

He didn't know why she bothered to stop him or even care, the person she knew least about in the group was him. And he was really only on it because they needed Ox's brain, and they came in a set so he really wasn't too needed for anything group related. Harvar felt he was there solely to serve as Ox's self defense, but failed to do that simple task. He took a step to turn but Maka tried once again to block him off.

"How do we even know what this meeting is about? Wouldn't you at least like to find out?" Her expression changed immediately trying to fit her classmates unreadable mood. "What if it's about Ox and if you miss the meeting how helpful will you really be to him? Just stop having your damn pity party. Get it together! And Let's go!"

Her words weren't much nor were they deep on any level to convince her classmate to go, but he figured going wouldn't hurt any to get her off his back for a while. On his way to the death room however he did take notice of her words the phrase she used "pity party." The girl was right he did need to straighten himself up and he was loosing himself by being too upset. Time to ignore the nasty comments and return to the normal rule-following and intimidating Harvar everyone else knew him to be.

She lead him to Lord death's room and down a hall of what looked to be painted red guillotines, and past the hall into wide open blue room with painted white clouds moving along the wall.

"YO! Nice'ta see ya!" came the sing-song voice from the Shinigami giving off a casual salute to entering guests. The rest of the team was already inside including Liz and Patty who'd skipped out on class that day and the new teacher with the new girl. "Glad you could come! Couldn't finish this meeting without ya!" Harvar assumed the death god was talking about Maka until he added in his name with a high note, "Harvar!"

The addition of his name into the sentence was a complete surprise, enough of one that he quirked his brow at the sound of his name coming from Lord Death. Since when was the lad ever significant enough to directly address?

"I just finished explaining to the group that Mao and Mikayla here are weapons without real meisters.

Harvar snorted to himself, it's not like he would need to be a meister-less weapon for long.

"It's common that weapons can use each other if they're siblings," the Shinigami threw a glance to the Thompson sisters and then back to Harvar, "but Mao and Mikayla are the first I've seen to use each other having no prior relations. Their first time synching wavelengths was a couple years ago and since then have also used other weapons!" Seeing Harvar make no reaction to what he just stated, the god continued. "Before we can come up with a plan to retrieve Ox from that gang of criminals you're going to learn how to fight on your own and with other weapons! Mao and Mikayla will teach you!"

His interest sparked.

"In the meantime the rest of Spartoi will be devising a plan to retrieve my son but in addition to your mission to train with Mao and Mikayla the three of you are assigned to the retrieval of Ox and Justin Law."

Clearly the rest of the gang hadn't heard that part of the plan before, the part about rescuing Justin. Half of the group had confusion playing across their faces and the others were merely surprised, they'd assumed he was a lost cause. However one person did seem more than just surprised, Mikayla at hearing the news stiffened and clenched her fists. Harvar sent her a quizzical glance through his glasses then looked away back to the death god.

"Living arrangements have been made for Mao to stay at Stein's place while he was gone, but since Mikayla was added to the mission after the arrangements were made, do you mind having her stay at your place?" he was directly addressing Harvar with his head tilted to the side like a puppy's plea for understanding. "I would have Maka do it, but with Blair living at her place there's simply no more room for anyone else. The others have similar problems."

"Fine." Turning on his heels to leave, the light pattering footsteps of the messy haired girl followed close behind, she was running after him.

"If you're leaving now at least show me to your apartment." Her voice was smooth and bell-like, but came out with a hint of arrogance ringing throughout her voice. Harvar wasn't sure he'd enjoy his time living with her.


	2. Chapter 2

'Annoying may be the single best way to describe the damn girl.' Harvar picked up a half empty glass and an old half eaten out ramen cup. Mikayla had been leaving her junk around the house all week and he was beginning to think she was doing it on purpose. Mao too, was a full on irritation, delaying training the way he was. They were getting no where, and Mikayla went along without a care in the world.

Oh god, the girl was a rule breaker. The most annoying aspect of any person in existence to the young weapon boy, was a person who felt no inclination to follow any rules of any kind and she was rather quick to break them all. In a day she managed to violate at least a dozen rules. Smoking on campus, ditching class every other day, skipping out on a meeting, not complying with dueling regulations, etc; all such simple laws broken within a single goddamn day. And atop the actual spoken laws of the city and school she manages to break social rules by not coming her hair, occasionally not wearing shoes out in public, leaving his apartment in a massive mess, and then neglecting the mess in the apartment that wasn't even hers.

The boy grunted at the thought of her as he spilled the contents of the ramen cup down the garbage disposal of the kitchen sink.

'Of all the people in the world…' he thought, using a spoon to scoop out the curdled remains of the milk in Mikayla's cup, "…why me? And why her?"

Mao had scheduled a lesson right after class that day in the same room. Mikayla actually bothered to show up - which proved to be huge surprise, for him and the rest of the class - but the lightning spear wasn't sure if he should be happy she followed a rule, or upset he had to sit so close to her, since she remained in Ox's seat. The school bell's loud musical KIL KONG KANG KONG rang twice over dismissing all classes for the day.

Classmates who knew of the scheduled lesson threw him suspicious and curious looks followed by sniggers over their backs to him. They knew quite well of his utter hatred toward the teacher and new student. None of his present classmates knew him well enough to be able to tell in any other circumstance, but his soul wavelength was so disturbed, even those with low soul perception skills could see it. Knowingly the class emptied fast, leaving him behind to suffer.

"So, no actual training today," Mao started with a clap and rubbed his hands together. He smiled with a slight tilt to the side. His eyes were bright with anticipation as he looked up to his new student.

'Go figure,' Harvar thought and rested his chin in his crossed hands, propped up by the desk in front of him.

A large grin spread across Mao's face suddenly excited by what he was about to say. "However, after Mick and I go over the simple rules, I'll let you try hold each other before I go!"

"Go?" Mikayla raised her head at the word in surprise. "Where?" The expression on her face implied she too, wasn't too keen on being left alone with her new 'roommate'.

Mao's smile only spread more, the corners of his mouth reached ear to ear. "My mother called me, and told me Ti-en has uncovered her weapon. Lord Death is allowing me to get her, and bring her to the school, so I'll be gone for about a week. Besides I can't wait to see what she is!"

"Oh your little sister?" Her expression seemed to fade and dull and she lowered her head again. The situation became what she dreaded.

'See now she doesn't want to be with me either…' Harvar thought throwing a glance her way.

"Anyhow let's explain how this is going to work…" He paused for a second, placed his fisted hand under his chin, and then with an awkward stare up to his students, he sighed. "Oh yeah you guys can come down here, I feel awkward looking up at just 2 students."

They followed his orders; Mikayla went to lean on the teachers desk, while Harvar stood erect slightly away from the two.

"Mmmk. Mick why don't you start with the basics?" Mao tossed his head turning around to look at his partner.

She heaved out a sigh and straightened up. "Weapons synchronizing together is often difficult because they can easily over power each other, or just like synchronizing with humans, the weapon types may clash in abilities making it impossible to synchronize with others; they can reject each other. It's also possible that they can absorb each other, or become one. At times it's effective to become one based on the type, but dangerous if the weapons get stuck together and can't separate." She folded her arms and leaned back once more. "Both must be equal too, so I've had some of the souls I consumed removed to match the number you did, so that should slightly solve the problem." The girl looked unhappy with the statement, like it was degrading to be reduced to his level.

Harvar could hit her with that statement, like he was so low leveled. Ox knew how to handle him perfectly, and the only reason why they didn't collect as much souls was because their studies were always more important.

"But there's also personality problems, they're more difficult to deal with than issues between a meister and weapon pair," Mao added in.

'Well this will never work then….' The lightning spear rolled his eyes behind his dark glasses, folded his arms and pursed his lips.

"I think that is basically it though. Those first simple rules are the most difficult but you shouldn't have too much of an issue right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Hum, well, let's see Harvar wield Mikayla first, huh?"

Harvar heaved out a long, but quiet breath, he stepped closer to Mikayla, and without much hesitance, she transformed into her weapon form.

No one else from the school had seen her in weapon form before, he was surprised with the weapons elegance. Although physically, Mikayla was elegant, her personality proved to be quiet the opposite. He thought her weapon form would reflect her personality.

She was a pearly ivory longbow, an arms length long, with curled and carved ends. He admired her form without words, until the unexpected occurred.

The air grew hot, thick and filed with static, breathing became difficult. The bow grew heavy in his hands and stung them. By reflex he sent a jolt of lightning through her and the stinging increased tenfold. He winced at the pain as his palms began to bleed. He could hear Mikayla's pain through his palms and threw her away from him. She hit a wall and clattered to the floor before returning to her human dripped from her mouth and seeped from under her finger nails. Harvar glared at her.

Mao suspected there would be trouble between the two after hearing Mikayla's reports on how Harvar treated her, but he didn't foresee a rejection of that magnitude. Their souls clashed much too violently for his liking. No one he had seen before ever cried out in so much pain or bled, the usual situation was just an increase in weight and a minor burn to the wielder's skin. teaching the two to work together would be no simple task. He had to find a way to diagnose the problem, and quick, so he could leave.

The teacher crossed his arms and bent sideways with his brows furrowed and wondered if he could handle them both at the same time.

"Mikayla, back into weapon form," he ordered.

"But I-"

He interupted her, "Relax, I'm going to hold you."

She nodded, and rose as he approached her, and transformed. She landed in his hands was glad to back in them. His ocean-like soul soothed her burns and she relaxed.

And out of nowhere, Harvar was beside her. She screamed.

Mikayla glanced over her shoulder to the young man, he had already turned around and could only stand awkwardly looking confused about whether he should cover his dick or his ass since he was turned around anyway. However, he too seemed to stiffen with agitation to Mao's actions. They were both weapons being held by Mao, hence their visibility to each other.

Inwardly, a frown crept across the girl's soft features completely aware of his dislike for her.

Both weapons began to burn and itch in Mao's hands with their weight increasing all the while he held them; because they were rejecting each other, they were rejecting him in a manner of so speaking.

He held them well though. His soul wavelength over powered the others despite Harvar's retaliation. Gradually the two students' tempers calmed and Mao could easily see the problem.

As weapons they were perfectly compatible, Harvar was lightning, and Mikayla was air, in storms lightning charges air, and air helps channel it. But in terms of getting along... Harvar despised his partner. Mikayla, after seeing his weapon form was afraid of him.

Mao smiled to himself without letting the other two sense what he was about to do. He let go of the two younger weapons.

Spirit walked into the room, and leaned against a wall quietly, not to disturb them.

"I have an idea!" Mao snapped his fingers with one of those ear to ear grins the class came to know him for. "A proposal, or a deal, a compromise, or whatever you guys want to call it." he paused and walked over to the chalk board. The man picked up a piece of chalk and began to scribble his thoughts on the matter.

His students watched in horror as each letter was printed. "An eye for an eye, an ear for an ear. Rule for Rule, Law for a law, Crime for a crime." They got the idea without having to ask, but Mao explained anyway, "While I'm away, I expect the two of you to work out your issues. I don't care what the details are, but by the time I get back in three weeks I want to see a change in your behavior." At this time his smile was completely gone. "Every time Mikayla breaks a rule, I expect Harvar to break one in exchange. Every time Harvar follows one, Mick must also follow one. And that includes little things like social rules." He turned back to face the kids. "Starting today, you must live together by that."

The students didn't budge, but merely starred at their teacher wishing they didn't understand.

"Alright, out. You are both dismissed from your lesson."

They stood for only another second, then gathered their things an left the classroom in silence.

"Are you sure that's right for Harvar?" Spirit added after the door shut.

"Oh, I didn't notice you there!" The young teacher's grin re-appeared instantly. "And yes, I do think it's right. That boy needs to learn something about camaraderie, and Mick seems like just the right kid to teach him."

"But your method is... I dunno-" the death scythe's voice trailed off.

Mao's smiling eyes seemed to make Spirit trust him. He patted him on the back and Spirit shrugged.

"It'll work."


	3. Chapter 3

"You can start by combing your hair," Harvar spat at Mikayla after leaving the classroom.

She wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand and ignored the comment. Instead of returning to the apartment, she headed in the opposite direction. Mick wanted to spend as little time as possible with her new "partner," regardless of Mao's new set of rules he gave them to live by.

"I don't know why Mao dragged me into this," the fair girl whispered to herself pushing through a door.

The sun was setting when Mikayla finally got out of the building-after getting lost several times- and she headed to a convenience store near Harvar's apartment.

Just as Harvar was unlocking his door, he noticed Mikayla enter the store. Lightning boy was about to go inside his apartment, but something caught his eye. The girl was at the counter, and from the looks of her lip movement she was asking for a pack. The cashier handed them over, and much to Harvar's surprise... Mikayla paused, simply stared blankly at the cigarettes, then pushed them back towards the cashier. She tucked her wallet away; the boy watching unlocked the door, and entered his apartment before being discovered, as she walked out.

The weapon shut the door and wondered aloud, 'did she just follow a rule?' His new roommate was under aged to be legally smoking, and was well aware of that, but "Why would she do such a thing?"

Harvar went to his bedroom and shut the door, sat himself down at a desk, and opened his book bag. It was best to shake off what was just witnessed and return to his normal scheduled evening without another thought of her. However after rewriting several pages of notes, his thoughts couldn't help wander back to her.

Thoughts wandered between a few shared moments with her. Intense physical pain he got from trying to hold her replayed in his mind, watching her at the corner store earlier, and the complete surprise of seeing her when Mao wielded them at the same time. That moment seemed to stand out above the others. Harvar never knew that when two or more weapons were being held by the same person that they could see each other. He never had a partner other than Ox, and wished to keep it that way, but then his thoughts drifted back to the moment they had completely alone.

It was invasive, and personal. The one place he thought he would always be alone in, was shared. And shared with a girl for that matter! Harvar guessed his new partner hadn't shared a meister before, her shrill scream after noticing him rang and repeated over and over in his mind.

An indescribable heat welled in his face, the young man avoided thinking about it earlier, but it was undeniable. He saw her naked, and she saw him. He'd never seen anyone that way before, except in the shower rooms after gym classes and sports, but they were all guys, its not like there was anything there never seen before. The image of her smooth skin, dominated his mind for second, and he wondered how soft it was exactly. What would it be like to run his hands over that skin, to run his hands over her hips, down her back...

The front door slammed. Harvar swallowed hard, and remembered how repulsive the girl was to him. Sounds of clanking and stomping around flooded the next room and came through his bedroom door. Yeah, he was definitely repulsed by her.

She was loud sometimes, she ditched class, she smoked, she was messy. She broke rules. He hated that.

Mikayla knocked at his door.

Harvar looked over to it, but didn't attempt to answer. After a minute the girl slipped a thin rectangular paper under the door. Her footsteps lead away from the door and eventually faded, then he went to pick it up. It was the receipt from the store. She bought a bottle of soda, some candy, and the cigarettes were listed on it, but they were stricken further down on the sheet. He knew she didn't buy them, but this was her proof.

Flopping onto his back, while still on the floor, lamp light shined through the paper and he stared through the small receipt. "I guess I owe her" Biting his lip on the last word, he didn't want to dot it, but he was going to anyway. Unsure of the reason why, he would do it without a doubt. Harvar decided that maybe hating the girl was unnecessary; but only for Ox's sake.

Sleepiness hit him, as thoughts focused on his first partner, and Harvar fell asleep on the floor.

Sun poured in through the windows, and awoke him. He leapt up, it was late. Usually the boy got up before the sun. Leaving immediately was his only option and to keep his clothes on from the day before.

Harvar flung the bedroom door open and just as he set his foot out the door, the condition his apartment was in was suddenly apparent. The clanking and banging around from the night before wasn't because Mikayla was being messy, she was cleaning. The floor was cleaned and washed, none of her belongings were laying around, she folded the blankets she slept in; and the dishes, pots, and pans were done. The place positively sparkled and smelled faintly of cleaning products.

Then really felt he owed her after carrying such negative feelings for her after she had just followed two rules, especial one, he considered to be a big deal; cleaning his apartment. Cleanliness was the greater preference for him. Yet, the young weapon couldn't shake a nagging thought. Did she do all this in attempt to fulfill Mao's will?

He often noticed how Mikayla looked at Mao with such admiring bright eyes, what if it was just wanted to please him? Harvar tried to kick the thought, 'Of course she isn't doing this for me. I'm not doing this for her. It's all for Ox. I need him. She needs Mao. Nothing is going on, she hasn't had a change of some kind.'

But still, the boy needed to do something in return. Already late for school, and according to a note on the fridge, Mikayla went to class; he decided not to go. It was changing the rule Mao gave them, but he thought it to be fine. Equivalent exchange was all that mattered to the young weapon. So far she did three acts of rule following, he had to break three. Ditching class was one, and although it pained him to not go, at least missing out on the daily sneers from classmates was possible.

Later in the day, much to his dismay, Mikayla hadn't returned from school. No chance was available to notify her of his deviance, including his second act. It was about 24 hours since she was last seen, the sun was setting, and it was getting cold out. Harvar ran his hands through his hair in frustration. That was his other act of deviance, and it was wasted. Laying on the couch for a few moments, his dark hair hung in his face and he began to doze off.

Harvar smiled to himself in remembrance of the look on people's faces as he passed by. He went out earlier in the day to show off the minor change, and was pleased by the results.

However, much to his displeasure, he awoke the next morning by the sun's light again. Cursing himself he arose only to find Mikayla was already gone. Three days were wasted out of the time Mao had given them.


	4. Chapter 4

Mikayla successfully survived avoiding Harvar for a whole week. She continued to follow several rules a day, assuming he continued life as life was normally lived. The fair girl, cleaned the apartment on a daily basis, did her laundry, wore shoes in public most days, stopped smoking without difficulty, and combed her short messy hair into a style that was manageable and sleek. However, class attendance was still poor. Getting herself to class only happened once, and that was the day her partner slept in. Mick assumed that he went to class the other days since breaking any type of small rule seemed to appall him. If she had made it to her classes, attempts to avoid him would not have gone so well.

During the time school was skipped, Mikayla trained on her own. Out of practice was not a good condition to be in so the girl decided it was best to increase physical strength. Everyday the bow weapon found herself in a small wooded area where training would be private and quiet.

It was Monday again, and Mick brought herself outside to a well liked training spot when the sky began to grow dark. Grey and black clouds blotted out the sun's smiling face. Mikayla was so into her training; she didn't notice how dark the world had become until a drop of rain landed on her nose.

Thunder cracked through the skies, and she cried out loud before diving inside a hollow tree for shelter.

With Harvar's dissipating dislike for his supposed-to-be new partner, he set out to look for her in the rain. Apprehension was the best way to describe how he felt at that moment, as the rain turned into a storm. The lightning spear quickened his pace. Rain poured while thunder and lightning cracked through the sky every couple seconds. The lightning boy broke into a run.

After not finding her during his other searches through out the week, the lad headed straight for the wooded area of the city. And before a half an hour's search ended after tearing through the bushes and trees, and getting soaked to the bone, he heard sniffling coming from the inside of a tree. He circled around it, and found Mikayla curled into a tight shivering ball.

Pity was the only word or feeling he could draw in to describe the girl. Seeing her curled so tightly, reminded him of a small child afraid of a storm without having any parents to cry to.

Harvar kneeled in front of her, with a quiet "Hey,"

She looked up at him, and instantly cringed. Lightning cracked again, and she jumped at the sound.

Harvar wondered to himself, and lightning struck somewhere in the small forest. The flash of the light and volume of the thunder that followed it caused Mikayla pull herself into a tighter ball. Lightning boy remembered something that led him to a conclusion. She started to avoid him only after Mao's lesson, although Harvar had become aware of her slight dislike for him, there was no way the weapon could avoid him for that long without a stronger reason. It could be... Mikayla really was afraid of storms; or more precisely, of lightning? If she was afraid of lightning, she was afraid of him.

He suddenly regretted ever treating her poorly.

"Mikayla," he said softly. Leaning in toward her, he offered his hand. It was uncharacteristic of him to show any type of kindness, and the boy was perfectly aware of that, but something warm couldn't help build within him. "We should go back to the apartment."

The girl raised her head, and stared at him dumbfounded. 'This must bee some type of trick,' she thought. Lightning truck again, she flinched, and tucked back into a ball.

Harvar didn't want to waste time, out in the cold rain. He grew frustrated with her, yet attempted to keep his voice calm, "Come on, I don't care if you're afraid of lightning, you're safer with me inside, than you are out here." He didn't wait for a response that time and simply picked her up.

Mick was about to struggle, but she noticed the warmth of his body, despite being sopping wet, and allowed him to carry her back to his apartment.

He was right, she was afraid of lightning. Which was partially why, when he tried to wield her the rejection was so painful. And after feeling the warmth of his body against hers, it was right to think she could be safer with him.

When they arrived at the apartment, Harvar did the unthinkable. Rather than setting her down on the usual place where she slept - the couch- he set her in Ox's room, on his bed. They were both soaked from the trek back to the apartment in the rain, so he prepared the bed for her, brought hot tea into the room and put it on Ox's nightstand.

It felt odd to be back in the room, after so long, after knowing Ox hadn't been in there for almost a month, but the feeling disappeared as Mikayla drifted off to a quiet sleep.

Harvar still couldn't believe that the reason she avoided him was because she was afraid of lightning, then he thought his bad behavior, and clear hate for her probably made a major contribution. He decided he would have to make up for it, and also try to get her to stop fearing lightning, or rather, him.

He looked back to his sleeping partner, and even though she was asleep, her face looked restless, but beautiful none the less. Her white hair fluffed as it dried, and lay over her forehead. A light blush rested on her cheeks, and her lips were pinker than usual. She was probably getting a fever after being so cold.

Harvar rested his palm over her forehead to check her temperature, it was getting hot, but wasn't quite the fever. He was about to pull his hand away, but then hesitated. He drew in closer without a care towards the developing cold...and kissed her.


End file.
